BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ACR 127
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Adams
VERSION: 5/12/10
Analysis by: Jennifer Gress FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 15, 2010
SUBJECT:
California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Larry L. Wetterling and
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart
Memorial Highway
DESCRIPTION:
This resolution names a segment of State Highway Route (SR) 15
as the "CHP Officer Larry L. Wetterling and San Bernardino
County Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart Memorial Highway."
ANALYSIS:
The committee has adopted a policy regarding the naming of state
highways or structures. Under the policy, the committee will
consider only those resolutions that meet all of the following
criteria:
The person being honored must have provided extraordinary
public service or some exemplary contribution to the public
good and have a connection to the community where the highway
is located.
The person being honored must be deceased.
The naming must be done without cost to the state. Costs for
signs and plaques must be paid by local or private sources.
The author or co-author of the resolution must represent the
district in which the facility is located and the resolution
must identify the specific highway segment or structure being
named.
The segment of highway being named must not exceed five miles
in length.
ACR 127 (ADAMS) Page 2
The proposed designation must reflect a community consensus
and be without local opposition.
The proposed designation may not supersede an existing
designation unless the sponsor can document that a good faith
effort has uncovered no opposition to rescinding the prior
designation.
This resolution :
Designates the portion of SR 15 between its junction with SR
215 and Oak Hill Road in the counties of Riverside and San
Bernardino as the "CHP Officer Larry L. Wetterling and San
Bernardino County Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart
Memorial Highway."
Requests the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to determine the cost of erecting appropriate
signs, consistent with the signing requirements for the state
highway system, and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The purpose of this resolution is to honor the
sacrifices made by two men who were killed in the line of
duty. On March 9, 1973, CHP Officer Larry L. Wetterling and
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart
were killed in the line of duty. On that date, CHP Officer
Wetterling stopped to assist a driver along southbound SR 15.
The driver, who was a recently paroled convict, killed Officer
Wetterling and stole his patrol car. Having been notified of
the incident, Lieutenant Stewart found the parolee but was
also killed.
CHP Officer Larry L. Wetterling, born in Monmouth, Illinois on
March 9, 1942, had a childhood dream to serve as a CHP
Officer. He graduated from San Bernardino High School in
1960, attended San Bernardino Valley College, and then
graduated from the California Highway Patrol Academy in
Sacramento on March 1, 1968.
Officer Wetterling was survived by his wife Catherine,
daughter Shelly, and now deceased daughter Terri, his mother
Carmen, his now deceased father Carl, his sisters Shere and
ACR 127 (ADAMS) Page 3
Carol Ann, and many friends and coworkers.
Sheriff's Lieutenant Alfred E. Stewart was born in Jersey
City, New Jersey, on May 24, 1933, the oldest of eight
children. Lieutenant Stewart attended Henry Snyder High
School, but left at age 16 to join the United States Marine
Corps and serve in the Korean War.
After being wounded in both legs in 1950, he received an
honorable discharge from the Marine Corps and went to work for
the Columbia Southern Chemical Corporation. While there, he
held various union offices, including that of Union Local
President.
In 1960, Lieutenant Stewart joined the North Bergen Police
Force in North Bergen, New Jersey, where he became a detective
and was a member of the Vice Squad. California called and
Lieutenant Stewart and his family moved to the Golden State in
1964 when he was hired by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
Department.
Lieutenant Stewart was one of the founding members of the
California Narcotics Officer's Association and served as its
eighth president in 1972. In 1973, the California Narcotics
Officers' Association created the Alfred E. Stewart Memorial
Award to memorialize Lieutenant Stewart by honoring individual
achievement of working narcotic officers.
Lieutenant Stewart was survived by his wife, Marie, two sons,
Michael and Matthew, and his daughter, Marie. His son,
Michael, passed away in 2007.
By naming a segment of SR 15 in their honor, this resolution
recognizes the service and sacrifice these men made to
preserve public safety.
2.Author's amendments . The author intends to offer two
amendments in committee. First, because the segment named in
the resolution is approximately 15 miles in length, exceeding
the 5-mile requirement provided in the committee policy, the
author will offer amendments to shorten the road segment being
designated.
Second, the resolution contains some inconsistent biographical
information regarding the year Lieutenant Stewart was
discharged from the Marine Corps that the author wishes to
ACR 127 (ADAMS) Page 4
correct.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 73-0
Appr: 15-0
Trans: 13-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 9, 2010)
SUPPORT: San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit
Association
OPPOSED: None received.